


My Mask Has Missile Pods

by Lolk



Category: Armored Core (Video Games)
Genre: Capitalism, F/F, Massive Property Destruction, Mechs, Poorly made loadouts, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 12:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolk/pseuds/Lolk
Summary: More than ten years have passed since the National Dismantlement War. A League of Corporations has taken over the world. To escape the pollution that poisons the surface of the planet, the League has built massive floating platforms called Cradles. Only there, 7,000 meters above the ground, is the air clean and safe. Already, half of mankind lives in the skies. The planet's surface has become a battlefield, where armies fight to control the resource plants that feed the Cradles.As the war came to a close, giant humanoid weapons called Armored Core NEXTs enabled the League to firmly establish their rule of the planet. Their pilots are called Lynx. Fearing the power and independence of these NEXTs, the League left them behind on the surface. The Lynx now work as mercenaries for an organization called Collared.This story follows one very specific NEXT, by the name of Queen. Her rise to power, and the allies she makes along the way, may change the fate of the world.





	My Mask Has Missile Pods

A figure lightly steps through the dark room. Pawing at the door admits muffled curses, they eventually find the light switch.  
_Click_  
The lights are cheap, a sickly yellow that's far too bright. It illuminates a ratty tan couch,a spartan desk, and a woman wearing a rayleonard company jacket. She pushes the rain-soaked hair out of her face. She pauses, looking around at her den, then strides over to the desk, tossing their rain jacket on the couch as she walks. They were apparently collectors these days, but she had bought one back when it was cheap. It still held up. She slumps in the desk chair, then clicks the power button. The monitor silently flickers on. One new message. She opens it.

 _This is the mission._  
_The client is GA America._  
_The target is the Algebra forces guarding the Richland Agricultural Plant._  
_Your task is extremely simple. We want you to destroy all enemy units._

She sighs in relief . Work. An excuse to get back in her AC, and an assurance of keeping food on the table. Serene Haze would be happy, GA missions were pretty good keeping up with costs without accruing too much damage. The company voicebox they'd picked was less annoying than Omer’s as well.

_There's one catch. The enemy has commandeered a GA-manufactured Arms Fort. The client could not give us many details, but it sounds like it's going to give you some trouble._

Nothing she couldn't handle. Serene Haze had warned her that some of the larger Arms Forts were tough, but she had yet to encounter one that wouldn't go down under a blade.

_Oh yeah. Like before, we can provide you with support NEXTS for this mission. Let me know if you want to draw on these resources._

She was allowed to call on support this time too, huh? Serene Haze had told them to be careful about that. Sharing the reward and paying for the repair costs of something you couldn’t control, that sort of thing. But the land crabs packed a punch, and it would be embarrassing to get jumped by a normal or something while she was dealing with the Arms Fort. Maybe a friend was worth having. My Bliss had certainly pulled his weight. 

At that thought, she plunked her head in the table, grinning ruefully to herself. It was fine on the battlefield, but she needed to shake that habit of thinking of pilots as their AC. It had made more than a few communications awkward, even if some of the pilots preferred it.

Lifting her head up to prop her chin up, she glances over the list of supports. Arisawa was too expensive, but she'd heard bad things about Dan Moro. Mainly that he’d panic. If they had to pay for his craft getting crippling because he’d blundered into a Land Crab broadside… No, best not. You got the support you paid for, after all. 15% wasn’t worth the trouble.

That left one May Greenfield, Merrygate. Looked like a heavy craft, with lots of fire power. Less expensive than Arisawa, and the missiles would be useful. Nicknamed ‘Smiley’, apparently. She’d do.

_Anyway, that’s all._

She clicks the button, choosing Merrygate. It was time to get to work. She pushed back from the desk, grabbing her jacket and flicking the light switch on the way out. It was time for Queen to fly again.

* * *

Miles above the Richland Agriculture plant, a dropship sped along. The dropship itself wasn’t terrible dangerous. It had no weapons, moderate armor, and a rudimentary stealth system. It was a cargo bird, not a fighter jet.  
Inside that dropship however, was a weapon. An armored core, death incarnate for the thousands of Algebra soldiers milling around down below. Two Land crabs (thanks intel), and dozens of Normals.  
All of them would fall like wheat before the scythe to her. She reveled in. Her AC, Queen, hummed to life as she plugged into her machine via the AMS. All at once, she was larger than life. Her weak mortal body gone, replaced by a powerful frame of armor and weaponry. A small blip appeared on her radar, designating her ally Merrygate. They were ready to drop as well. At the signal, the bay doors opened up beneath her, and she plunged into the world. In the ear, she could hear the voice of her operator crackle to life.

_Commence mission. Arms Fort Land Crabs confirmed. Intel was right on the money this time. They're standard models but don't underestimate them. Proceed with caution. Don't waste ammunition on its front. Circle around it while avoiding the main cannon's firing radius._

Sound tactical advice from Serene Haze. She was glad to have the operator; those first few years of being truly independent were fraught with blunders and near-death experiences. The missile launcher over her right shoulder spat out its deadly projectile, the one missile spreading into many. The MT’s around their landing zone were utterly obliterated. She touched down, Merrygate landing with a heavy thump next to her.

_Merrygate reporting. Commencing attack. You be my shield. That's what the heavies are for. I'm launching a frontal barrage. "Pinpoint targeting" just isn't my style._

She snorted in amusement as they two of them sent a pillar of missiles into the sky. It wasn’t exactly her style either. The cheerful green NEXT sped towards the enemy normals. She was happy to leave them to Merrygate, dealing with the Land Crabs was a task better left to Queen. Her overboost powers up as her the missile pods fold back, giving her access to her blade. The thrusters fling her at the first land grab, cutting out at the last second. A few normals blocked the way, but they couldn’t hope to keep up with her NEXT. A hop, skip, and a well-time quickboost was all that was needed to get past them, and get her under the Land Crab. One blast from the KIKU in the right place brings the arms fort to a halt, a rocket powered spear piercing its ammo stores and detonating the internal structure.

The land crab groans, the entire structure beginning to sink inwards as its slayer frantically boosts out from under it to avoid being crushed. Shots from it’s partner’s cannons thunder around her, kicking up dust and smoke. The impact smashed her against one of the legs of the fallen leviathan. For a brief moment she was in two bodies, the staggered frame of her AC and the human body, wracked with pain from the AMS feedback. 

She could only scream at herself to move before the next volley hit, fighting through the pain to reactivate the boosters and get mobile again. The moment stretched out agonizingly long in her mind, looking down the barrels of the cannons before finally, finally, she could move again. 

After what seems like hours but couldn’t have been more than a second, Queen surges back to life, darting across the crop fields as the Land Crab’s cannons thunder. The long range guns kick up pillars of the dust behind her, never quite fast enough to land a hit. The beige-and-blue NEXT darts under the second land grab, carving a line through its belly with her blade. The comforting voice of her operator sounded again in her ear, tone neutral. As though her charge hadn't been nearly erased by cannon fire. It helped.

_Land Crabs destroyed. Good. Now just mop up the small fry. Let's clean up and go home._

She grinned, despite the lingering pain. The hard part was over, all that was left was the normals. She glides out from under the wrecked land crab, then takes to the skies. Her cohort had been busy. Craters filled with normal parts littered the battlefield. Far below, a speck of green moved methodically across the battlefield, missiles streaming from them like a fountain towards the final squad of normals. Serene Haze whispered into her ear of their victory as she guided Queen gently through the air, touching down next to Merrygate. The comm link with her fellow Lynx opened.

_That’s it, battle over. You and I, we work well together._

She couldn’t help but agree, surveying the utter destruction that the cheerful green NEXT had wrought. She didn’t respond with words, only had her AC dip, the gesture somewhere between a nod and a bow. 

Perhaps she would have to call upon Merrygate in the future, if she was available. The support was… nice.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is maybe the third fanfic I've ever written. Hope y'all like it, I'm still getting my writing legs, so to speak.  
> (And yes, the summary was shamelessly lifted from the game, save for the last sentence.)


End file.
